The Big OE has become a premium product
NZ commenters are lamenting that the cost of the “traditional” Kiwi OE continues to climb after the UK again increased its visa fees.
“The youth mobility visa, which many young Kiwis aged under 31 use to spend two years working in the United Kingdom, is set to rise to NZ$420 (£208).
“The new price tag, which will take effect on April 6, is nearly twice the cost to Britain of processing the visas (NZ$264, £131). It is the second time in 12 months that the fee has increased after a similar jump from $391 to $403 last year…”
The UK justified the increase thus
UK Immigration Minister Mark Harper said yesterday that some visas were charged at a rate higher than the processing cost to the government “to reflect their value to successful applicants”. source
Is the UK perhaps copying New Zealand’s premium pricing ethos? most things in the NZ are pretty expensive.
We looked at how much New Zealand charges a UK citizen for a working holiday visa.
A NZ working holiday visa will cost the “traditional” British OE seeker £85 (NZ $168).
Maybe the cost of New Zealand’s visa reflects its value to successful applicants? At last, something in New Zealand that’s actually worth what it costs.
E2NZ.org 
The Waitangi Day pub crawl is a good way for Kiwis to show off their culture: getting pissed and being rowdy, whilst co-opting the culture of the Maori and denigrating it with the drunken “haka”.
NZ$420, why am I not surprised they set the fee at that amount. Very fitting for a nation of potheads. 😉 Personally, I wish they’d keep the gates closed and force them all to stay on their nasty little island and fix its problems. If they couldn’t run away from it and drag their loot home, or pay their obligations off whilst working offshore, boasting about how great a country it is the whole time they’re not even living there, maybe they’d make it a nicer place. So glad to be gone gone gone.